Public, private sectors in Saudi Arabia contribute $266mln to COVID-19 fight

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JEDDAH: Saudi companies and individuals have contributed almost SR1 billion ($266 million) in cash and kind to the Ministry of Health’s coronavirus fund, the health minister revealed on Monday.

Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah highlighted the contributions, which had boosted the ministry’s funds being used to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Expressing his gratitude toward all contributors to the fund, Al-Rabiah said: “The energy sector under the leadership of the Ministry of Energy has contributed with over SR500 million, Saudi banks have contributed with almost SR160 million and many companies have contributed greatly for this cause.”

He noted that more cases of COVID-19 had been reported due to poor labor conditions and called for companies and supervising bodies to “apply the highest precautionary measures.”

Al-Rabiah added that overcrowding in districts and neighborhoods that had not adhered to instructions on social distancing had also contributed to a rise in virus infections.

“We call on all residents, and residents of these neighborhoods, to commit to staying in their homes and implementing the highest preventive actions to ensure their safety and the safety of their families and loved ones,” said Al-Rabiah.

Speaking during the daily press conference on COVID-19, ministry spokesman Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly warned that infection rates would continue to rise if people failed to follow safety guidelines.

“It is confirmed that such areas need to take extreme caution, but that does not mean the other districts are immune to contracting the disease. We are all responsible, and the necessary actions are being taken in the most susceptible places.”

A total of 472 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Kingdom on Monday, meaning 4,934 people in Saudi Arabia had now contracted the disease, almost double the number from April 6 (2,605). There were 4,064 active cases, 59 of them critical.

Al-Aly announced 44 new recovered cases taking the total number of recoveries to 805 while six new deaths had been reported, raising the death toll to 65.

The latest people to die were a 51-year-old Saudi man in Makkah, a 95-year-old Saudi man in Al-Qatif, plus three residents in Madinah and one in Jeddah aged between 42 and 67.

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